About the Perrin Research Lab

We do fantastic things with chemistry to solve problems in biology. We’re tackling problems in cancer imaging and treatment, metal sensing, and antiviral agents made of peptides, DNA or both.  

Group Events

While we work hard, we do find time to get together and have fun as a group as we celebrate achievements, publications, thesis defenses and graduations.

Synthesis

A large part of our work relies on synthesizing novel building blocks with multiple heteroatoms including fluorine, boron, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, oxygen, silicon, halogens, and an occasional selenium atom; these are used to explore new methods and create new molecules as probes for biology

Nucleic Acids

We are pioneering the use of synthetically modified nucleosides for selecting cell-surface recognition aptamers, therapeutic DNAzymes for cleaving viral messenger RNA, and sensors for toxic metals.

Peptides

PET Imaging

We have invented trifluoroborates as captors of 18F-fluoride for one-step labeling of biomolecules for PET imaging. Above is our work on dual-mode imaging agents for PET imaging and fluorescent-guided surgery

Stealth Projects

We have a few skunkworks for turning “science fiction” into “science fact”: our lab maintains a culture of innovation, risk-​taking, and out of the box thinking for innovation and impact that can change business as usual with totally new chemistry. We are always looking for students who want to create something new.